ANNOUNCEMENTSPatient financial solutions provider Apex Revenue Technologies expanded its capabilities for self-service payment plans to allow providers greater flexibility in response to patients' financial challenges. Patients are now able to set up their own plans based on recommended terms or customize a plan. The enhanced solution also keeps total balance owed and payment plan status in synch with practice management systems, Apex noted.
Payment security specialist Bluefin Payment Systems LLC joined the Georgia-based American Transaction Processors Coalition to support and promote POS and ecommerce payment security through PCI Data Security Standard-validated point-to-point encryption and tokenization solutions. The ATPC was founded in 2014 with the mission to protect, promote and preserve the interests of the fintech and payment processing industries through proactive public relations and government affairs activities.
Cardfree, a mobile wallet provider to large merchants, was awarded U.S. Patent No.10,002,366, which covers "the ideal mobile wallet use case of enabling the consumer to transact with everything in his or her wallet – offers, payment and loyalty points – in a single action." The patent also covers the company's proprietary stored-value product that enables standard and nonstandard currencies including cryptocurrency, stock keeping units and conditional values, Cardfree noted.
In June, Electronic Payments Inc. reported exceeding $1 billion in monthly aggregate payment volume for the first time. The single month volume was up 26 percent from the previous June. Its ProCharge platform also reached a landmark $50 million in monthly customer invoice creation. "Our commitment to in-house products has come full circle and we now have a stable and evolved POS solution, as well as stored-value and e-billing systems for our clients," said Michael Nardy, Electronic Payments founder and CEO.
Fleetcor Technologies Inc., a global provider of commercial payment solutions, was added to the S&P 500 Index, which comprises 500 leading U.S. companies that combined capture approximately 80 percent of total available U.S. market capitalization. Fleetcor has achieved seven consecutive years of double-digit earnings growth since its IPO in 2010, was ranked 869 on the 2018 Fortune 1000, and placed 26 on the Forbes Magazine list of World's Most Innovative Companies.
The Muse hybrid smartwatch, which uses artificial intelligence to track and organize daily activities like exercise monitoring, nutrition advice and sun exposure alerts, recently began accepting backers on Kickstarter. The watch also features music and camera control, near field communication (NFC) payments, personal calendar/alarm, forgotten phone notifications and immersive entertainment experiences.
The Payment Systems Regulator launched a discussion paper about data in the payments industry to better understand the opportunities and risks associated with treatment of data and its role in enhancing processes. Hannah Nixon, Managing Director of the PSR, said, "The UK's payments sector is rapidly evolving and data is becoming increasingly important. Every time you make a payment or withdraw money, you generate data."
RESEARCHThe Accredited Standards Committee X9 Inc. (X9) published two documents: Technical Report 48 – Card-Not-Present (CNP) Fraud Mitigation in the United States: Strategies for Preventing, Detecting, and Responding to a Growing Threat and a white paper from the X9 Distributed Ledger and Blockchain Technology Study Group. TR 48 summarizes guidelines to mitigate CNP fraud in the United States, identifies CNP fraud attack trends affecting payments, and outlines stakeholder mitigation tools and strategies. The white paper assesses standards for distributed ledger technology, and specifically blockchain, that would benefit the financial services industry and support its adoption.
POS Terminals ‒ Our Vision for 2023, a white paper from Juniper Research, predicted usage of mobile POS (mPOS) devices connecting wirelessly or via mobile devices will drive annual mPOS transactions to over 87 billion by 2023, nearly triple the 28 billion transactions projected this year. The devices are also expected to drive payment card usage in emerging markets, such as India, where five-year growth could reach 46 percent.
A Kabbage Inc. poll of 500 established small businesses revealed that the first four years in business are the most critical to success. "Even though most businesses reach profitability in their first four years, our research shows businesses still encounter unique opportunities or challenges that require extra capital, such as bridging cash-flow gaps, making strategic purchases, increasing marketing spend or opening new locations," said Victoria Treyger, Chief Revenue Officer at Kabbage.
The National Retail Federation reported that May retail sales increased 0.7 percent seasonally adjusted over April and 5.6 percent unadjusted year-over-year as a growing economy prompted consumers to continue to spend. The numbers exclude automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants. The three-month moving average was up 4.6 percent over the same period a year ago, topping the NRF's forecast that 2018 retail sales will grow between 3.8 percent and 4.4 percent over 2017.
A Transaction Network Services Inc. survey revealed 70 percent of consumers would like to see unattended terminals accept card and cash payments. "We found 36 percent of consumers willing to make a payment at an unattended kiosk or vending machine using a wearable device, such as a bracelet or fitness tracker, including almost half of those aged 18 to 34," said Lisa Shipley, General Manager of TNS' FinTech Solutions, Americas.
Adding to its eCommerce Conversions Optimization Suite, Worldpay Inc. unveiled AuthMax, a new authorization tool designed to increased credit and debit card approval rates for U.S.-based ecommerce merchants by analyzing transaction data and applying behavior-driven rules. According to Worldpay, in boosting approval rates for card-not-present (CNP) purchases, AuthMax is expected to lift merchant revenues.
PARTNERSHIPSFirst Data Corp. partnered with Mastercard to make its digital disbursement platform available to Mastercard's business customers. The First Data Disburse-to-Debit solution will enable Mastercard MoneySend users to push real-time payments to debit card holders. The partners noted that debit disbursements have become increasingly popular with participants in the gig economy and businesses with high volume consumer payouts.
Payment gateway service provider USAePay teamed with iOS-based software provider Paradise POS to offer cash discount program integration as an option for USAePay users. Martin Drake, USAePay President, believes the program will be a game changer in the POS industry. "I especially like the fact that the program is processor agnostic, so it allows our resellers to have full control over the banking relationship," he added.
Global payment provider Paysafe, instant money tech company Ingo Money and Company.com LLC, a small-business products and services platform, joined forces to offer same-day settlement to U.S. small merchants. Paysafe said the collaboration will remove the wait typically experienced using the traditional interchange system, reducing the funding window from days to minutes. Merchants may also leverage Ingo Money push payments to unlock same-day settlement of fully guaranteed funds.
POS Portal, a ScanSource Inc. company, became a distribution partner for the Posera Ltd. pay-at-the-table solution, SecureTablePay. "SecureTablePay works with most leading payment processors and is integrated to 25 of the leading restaurant management systems," said Posera Executive Vice President of Strategy and Business Development Akash Sahai. "Given that POS Portal also works with the leading processors and ISVs, POS Portal is a perfect fit to distribute SecureTablePay."
ACQUISITIONSAdobe completed the acquisition of Magento Commerce. According to Adobe, with the addition of Magento Commerce Cloud to Adobe Experience Cloud, the company can now deliver a single, end-to-end digital experience platform for content creation, advertising, marketing, order management, predictive intelligence, analytics and unified commerce to business-to-business and business-to-consumer client users.
Denmark-based payments provider Nets acquired Poland-based online payment service providers Dotpay/eCard. Under the agreement the Polish brands and its CEO will remain. Nets noted the acquisition gives the company access to the sixth largest country in the EU and because of Poland's expanding economy anticipates high growth in digital payments.
PayPal Holdings Inc. agreed to acquire Hyperwallet, a global payout platform, for $400 million in cash, subject to adjustments. "By acquiring Hyperwallet, we will strengthen our ability to provide an integrated end-to-end solution to help ecommerce platforms and marketplaces -- however large or small -- leverage world-class payout capabilities in over 200 markets," said Bill Ready, Chief Operating Officer at PayPal. The transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2018.
APPOINTMENTSThe Merchant Acquirers' Committee elected 31 members to its board. Georgia Stavrakis, of Global Payments Inc., was reelected President; Stephen Prince, Qualpay Inc., Treasurer; and Vadeene Sisk, Elavon Inc., Secretary. Vice Presidents include Deana Rich, David Landis and Sid Pershad. Directors include Jim Bibles, Adrienne Gray, Aliki Liadis-Hall, Heather Mark, Kate Root, Kevin Smith, Melissa Sutherland, Holli Targan and Branden Williams.
Pamela Patsley joined the Board of Directors at ACI Worldwide Inc. With nearly four decades of executive experience in payments and financial services, Patsley most recently served as executive chairman of MoneyGram International Inc. Prior to that she was President of First Data International and CEO of Paymentech. ACI also reported the board retirements of John Shay, Jan Suwinski and James McGroddy.
Order-ahead technology provider Apptizer Inc. appointed O.B.. Rawls IV, former President and CEO of iPayment Inc. and current special advisor to the CEO of Paysafe North America, to its advisory board. Dinesh Saparamadu, founder and CEO of Apptizer, Inc., said of Rawls, "His wisdom and guidance will help Apptizer navigate a very dynamic and competitive SMB marketplace, plus his experience as a transformational CEO and thought leader will be invaluable."
Global business payment solutions provider PayClearly LLC tapped Gary Rice as Vice President of Strategic Sales for Emerging Markets. Rice brings over 20 years leadership experience in the payments industry to his new role, where he will apply his expertise in the manufacturing, distribution, energy, petroleum, aviation and transportation industries to building PayClearly's client base, the company stated.
The New England Automated Clearing House (NEACH) elected Laurance A. Selnick, CTP, Senior Vice President at Webster Bank, as Chair of the Board. Selnick has served as a board member since 2002. NEACH, a non-profit trade association, provides training, education, and support services to its member institutions and other New England entities to increase the use and quality of electronic payments. 
The Green Sheet Inc. is now a proud affiliate of Bankcard Life, a premier community that provides industry-leading training and resources for payment professionals. Click here for more information.
Notice to readers: These are archived articles. Contact names or information may be out of date. We regret any inconvenience.
Prev Next
